


between two worlds, mortal and celestrial

by vinndetta



Category: Dragon Quest IX
Genre: Aromantic, Aromantic Character, Aromantic Player, Gen, No names for the players/companions, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Player - Freeform, Some Misgendering, also it was interesting to not use any names for the friends/compansions, because i wanted to leave it open and anonymous to fit your gameplay, but i tried, but to try to develop them somehow and include them, so this was the result
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 15:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16600190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vinndetta/pseuds/vinndetta
Summary: They wandered around the world, stuck between the world of the Celestrians and the mortals.All they had were three companions, and maybe that's all they needed: a thirst for exploration and a plethora of friends scattered across the globe.





	between two worlds, mortal and celestrial

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [GenAndAroPrompts](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/GenAndAroPrompts) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
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> Basically, write a fanfiction for any fandom with under 500 works (the limit is reasonably elastic) that includes an ace/aro spectrum character. The goal is pretty much to try to expand some small fandoms with fics including ace/aro characters, something smaller fandoms might not have. Can be any length, any plot (just generally not upsetting)!
> 
> PS. A romantic or queerplatonic relationship with an ace/aro person is perfectly acceptable, unless you're writing a gen fic.
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> -
> 
> ughghg this was lowkey hard but this was my fave childhood game so yay! i hope this isn't confusing because of the vague characters i guess? i tried though sO you cant say i didnt

Being alone was something they were familiar with. From the very beginning, with Celestrial duties, they realized how isolated they felt. They were helping people, which was something that they loved to do. Still, the feeling persisted; they were invisible to the people that they saw everyday. These people didn't know they were there, getting to know them, getting to love them.

And going up to the world of the Celestrians was worse. They were so unlike the rest of their kind. Everyone was so focused on what could be up above, to their own heaven, their own paradise in the Realm of the Almighty

Yet, was there any reason that their home, the Observatory, and the world below which they helped, that these worlds could be their own heaven? 

-

They learned to love the humans, because they were the ones who prayed to them, the ones that felt more feelings than the others of their kind could ever feel. Sometimes, they would notice the ones who looked at the statue and wondered if they were real. 

They wanted to greet them so badly, to let them know that they had someone watching over them, someone who cared.

But their words were lost to the wind.

-

Their duty was to help the humans, who would give them the benevolessence (the physical embodiment of appreciation) the Celestrians needed to get to the Realm of the Almighty. They were to ride the Starlight Express in order to get to every Celestrian's dream destination.

And that's when they fell from the Observatory, feeling the wind knocked out of them as they fell towards the world they so badly wanted to be a part of.

-

And so, their dream came true.

-

She was so beautiful, looking over them with a concerned look and a bowl of soup in her hand. They remembered her, Erinn, the girl who had prayed to the statue countless times, the one who once asked shakily if they even existed, the one who deserved so much more but never got that chance. 

They spoke, shakily, barely getting out their name. Erinn smiled, introducing herself, too. They decided not to mention that they knew her name already, and the name of everyone in this town as well.

And, if they were crying out of joy as soon as Erinn left the room, no one would really have to know, right?

-

As much as they loved Angel Falls, they had to leave, the urge to explore unbearable. They thirsted to travel, to see the world that they found themselves in. 

Besides, they were still technically a Celestrian, as they found out when they saw the faded outline of a elderly man who had passed away. They knew that there had to be something wrong, as they were in the mortal world with some powers of being a Celestrian.

They bid farewell to the people that they had gotten to know, as both a Celestrian and a mortal. The time spent as a mortal was more enjoyable, as they found that interacting with these people was much better than being an invisible force that lingered around the village.

Erinn had left before them, to work at the Inn in Stornway. They figured it was time to leave in the same direction, with the little fairy known as Stella.

-

Stella was interesting, they felt. Stella initially had doubts, but soon understood that they were telling the truth about being a Celestrian in the past. She was a welcome newcomer, a voice of comfort when they felt as if they didn't belong in a world they weren't born into.

She brought up the fyggs, wanting to get both of them back at the Conservatory via the Starlight Express (which had also fallen down from the Observatory). But they hesitated. They knew that that was where they technically belonged, but they couldn't help but feel as if they were fine living a normal life down here. They didn't want to leave this place, filled with mortals, those complicated creatures that felt more than anyone else that they had met in the Observatory.

They shrugged as a response. It seemed as if Stella had understood, by the way she blinked and then dropped the subject.

-

Of course, their first stop was the Stornway Inn, where they met Erinn again. Erinn introduced them to their co-workers, as _the really awesome person I was telling you about, treat them nice!_ They smiled. It was nice to get personalized praise, instead of vague praise as they had gotten when they were a Celestrian.

-

They met three people here, who volunteered to join their party. They were all different kinds of people, with different abilities and personalities. It caused some bickering at first, some arguments as silly as whether the warrior's abilities with a sword were better than a thief's whipping skills. Other arguments could blow out of proportion, leading to nasty insults and scars.

It worked out though, the four of them.

-

The quest began, to find the fyggs. After the first mission in Stornway, they soon figured out with Stella that the fyggs were actually causing issues in the mortal world. 

-

Despite everything, the three companions wanted to stay. At first, the explanation made them confused, but as soon as they had gotten to the main point, the three of them looked at each other.

Then, as if they had come to an agreement through telepathy, the three of them decided that they were going to stick together no matter what.

They smiled, knowing that the four of them were going to go on a mission to save the world.

-

It took a few fyggs to figure out, but they figured out that fyggs were granting people their wishes, oftentimes in a way that was unintentionally worse. They even granted a girl the wish that her doll replica became real, which was a silly and probably joking wish.

The former Celestrian understood that the fyggs represented the benevolessence that they had worked forever to gather and the purpose of the creation of the Celestrian. They felt that it was symbolic of the way that the rest of their kind granted wishes not out of the goodness and purity of their hearts, but because of an ulterior motive. Now, the wishes were corrupted, bringing people more suffering all along.

Was this what would have happened, if they had successfully gotten to the Land of the Almighty? The humans would have been left without a watchful eye, without anyone to help them. It was selfish and corrupted, they thought, just like the fyggs, which represented their freedom but to the humans, disaster.

A pat on the shoulder caused them to come back to reality. They were in a hotel room, in some strange city. One of their companions - no, their friend - had sat next to them. Without warning, a hug was initiated, and they felt okay again. They knew that they had friends with them always, and the friends they made along the way were there too. They had more than enough love to go around, and that would be fine.

-

They noticed that some of their friends were looking at the pretty ladies dancing sensually. They didn't mind it, but they knew that they were on a time-sensitive mission. Of course, a couple minutes wouldn't hurt. Besides, they deserved a break after all that looking around for their stupid little pet for the royal queen.

Their friends were glued to their seats, so they sat down next to them to humor them. 

_Hey, boy, I could give you your own private show_ , a girl next to them whispered in their ear. They gulped, scooting farther away from her.

They're not interested in anything that she has to offer, and she luckily leaves them alone, probably going after someone else more willing to mess around with her. Misgendering was one thing that they were used to, but being hit on at the same time was a very strange thing that they had never experienced before.

They brush it off, just a bit relieved after the four of them finally leave that place. 

Time to search all of Gleeba for that silly lizard.

-

They wondered if mortal obsession with assigning people into boxes was normal. They had spoken to Erinn after the first day, who nodded and understood the _I don't really have a gender_ thing. It wasn't hard for most of the people in that area to catch on, as long as they had introduced themselves with that pronoun set.

Yet, if they didn't bring it up, then everyone starts to assume things openly. That isn't to say that people don't judge them already. It was worse in some places, where people talked behind their back using slurs that they didn't appreciate.

Even Celestrians were a little puzzled by it. They weren't exactly judging of it, but sometimes they slipped with pronouns. Aquila never messed up, though. There were some people who were well-equipped, who understood as soon as the subject was breached. But other people seemed to be unable to deal with it, both mortals and Celestrians.

Maybe the gender thing is just a thing that the entire world did that they didn't take part in.

-

Aquila squinted at them.

They knew the fyggs were in their inventory, and they were powerless to his advances. All Celestrians were unable to fight against a superior; seeing as Aquila was their mentor and they were still technically a Celestrian, there was seemingly no point to try to stop the inevitable. Yet, it didn't mean that they didn't want to put up a fight.

Aquila demanded them again.

They had to give in, seemingly watching their actions as if detached from their own body. They saw the horrified looks on their friends' faces, the grim look on Stella's face, and the blank stare from Aquila that bore into their head.

They wondered why Aquila had done this, seemingly betraying the rest of the Celestrians. They cared deeply for him, even if he didn't show a lot of emotions.

Aquila flew off with the Fyggs, helping the evil Gittish empire, as they found themselves in a familiar situation: falling out of the sky from the Starlight Express back into the mortal realm.

-

They were a bit shaken up, finding themselves surrounded by glaring and untrusting faces. A strange village, indeed, as they found out when the only kid that stood up to help them explained that they didn't trust outsiders. The Gittish Empire's invasion so many years ago still had this effect on them. It was still shocking, to see so many people filled with both anger and fear at their appearance.

But Stella and their three best friends were there, so everything was going to be okay.

All they had to do was to fix the situation here and stop the Gittish Empire from destroying the world.

-

The dragon was very insistent. 

They had made it all this way to Upover, after the small village they had intially landed in had finally realized that they had been manipulated to feel this way about outsiders. They had made it across the huge chasm, across different lands that took much precious time to cross. They made it to the top of the only mountain to see the legendary hero, Barbarus. 

Then, Barbarus turned out to be very uptight about what he wanted. And the dragon wanted them alone.

The four of them sat together, near the entrance of the mountaintop village. They knew what needed to happen, but they had never been apart before. And there was no telling how long this would last, how far away they'd be, and if they'd even make it through this. They regretted putting these three mortals into this, and letting them into their heart. This would have been so much easier if they hadn't even bothered.

They let out a small sigh. One by one, the three of them slowly got up, looking at each other.

 _I swear, I'll come back for you_ , they furrowed their eyebrows, trying to will the tears away.

The three of them watched as their friend got up, walking towards their destiny to save the world.

-

They found themselves trapped, after the dragon had tried to put up a fight.

He was dead now, as there was no way that Barbarus had survived that. They had been thrown off his back, falling into unconsciousness. So now, they were working in some weird place under the order of Gittish Empire soldiers.

They knew they needed to get out of here. Yes, they needed to stop the Gittish Empire, save the world, and all that stuff. 

But mostly, they couldn't break their promise to their three favorite mortals.

-

The plan had worked! They had turned off the barriers preventing them from leaving the area. The workers, who had been there for probably a long time, had risen up to attack their captors. It was beautiful, watching them rise up in rebellion against those who had tortured them for so long.

The leader of the plan revealed himself to be the driver of the Starlight Express, and they smiled.

More familiarity. There was hope.

-

They think a few tears were shed when they find the three of them at Erinn's inn in Stornway. And, well, they'd be lying if they hadn't shed a few tears themselves either.

-

They broke into the lair of the Gittish Empire, defeating the two mini-bosses that stood in their way. 

Then, there Aquila was, in front of Godwyn, the emperor of the Gittish Empire. In a blur, they found out from the shadows that Aquila had been a double agent. When Aquila fails to defeat Godwyn, they rush in, their three friends behind them. 

And when Godwyn appears to be down, Aquila seems to be proud of them. They smile, appreciating that their mentor is proud of them, until Godwyn attacks out of nowhere.

Once Godwyn's gone for sure this time, Aquila's already dead.

Their tears soon turn into sobs, and the three friends attempt to comfort their friend over their mentor's dead body.

-

They work through the dungeon, freeing the Celestrians who have been trapped. They recognize some of them, and they're just glad that this is over, and that everyone can go back to where they belong.

But where do they belong? In the world of the Celestrians or the world of the mortals? They had failed to consider this until now. Would they be granted wings and a halo? Would they never be able to see the friends they made during the journey? Would they never be able to gaze upon their best friends' faces ever again? Would the three of them remember them? What about vice versa?

Before they know it, they're being pulled into a hug. The unexpected group hug makes them feel better. The journey has been a long, tiring one, but the four of them have stuck through it, supporting each other through thick and thin. They've grown with each other, and it almost feels like a family. If it was up to them, they'd never separate ever again.

He knows which world they'd choose in a heartbeat, if they got to choose.

-

Corvus was the reason behind this, blind with rage for the human race and for the Celestrians.

They didn't understand how he could ever hate the entirety of a creature that seemed so pure and lovely. They weren't all good, but then again, nothing was all good. They had found love in the people that they had met. It was a love filled with admiration, something not filled with romance, but a platonic feeling of longing and want. These people had taught them how beautiful life was, and they'd never give up that for anything.

As much as they had wanted away from the Celestrian world, it wasn't that they hated the Celestrians. They were beautiful creatures too with power and wonder unlike anything else. There was good there too, as the image of Aquila comes to mind immediately in their head. Corvus was a Celestrian, until he turned into something else. 

There was no way. He was blinded by hatred that he had forgotten how beautiful everything was. They knew that a fight was inevitable, but they wished there was some way to show Corvus how there's still good in a world that Corvus believes is pure evil.

And that's when Serena shows up.

-

She's the pretty ghost that they keep seeing from time to time, muttering about trying to find someone in particular.

She tells her story, of Corvus coming to the mortal realm and then becoming captured by the Gittish Empire. She tells them about how Corvus loved the people that he guarded until he believed that he was betrayed by them. Serena tells them that she wants to reach him, wants to tell him the truth, wants to show him that his hatred is unreasonable.

They suddenly understand.

-

In order to fight against Corvus, they eat a fygg, wishing to become mortal.

They don't wait to figure out if it works or to analyze how they feel about becoming a mortal, but they rush off to the Realm of the Mighty in order to face off against Corvus in order to save the world.

-

What if they had been in that situation?

They wonder as they engage in battle with Corvus. It was a lot, what he had gone through. If they had been in that situation, with no friends, with the belief that everyone has no good in them, then they probably would be doing the same thing.

But, no, they have friends. They've seen the beauty of the mortal realm. Within the complex human soul, there's so much to be found, so much to wonder about, so much to admire. And they would give anything to be able to see them survive.

So, friends at their side, they charge ahead to deal the finishing blow to Corvus.

-

Serena reaches Corvus, who reacts instantly with shock. This was over: she'd explain the truth and he'd finally go in peace, leaving the world safe and sound.

Were they in love? They wonder silently at their murmured conversation. 

Maybe they did love each other, but they don't know if it was romantic or not. It didn't have to be, really. She had traveled for so long, trying to find him. Although some would claim that Serena would only do that for a romantic love, they'd have to disagree. They've had friends, especially the three best friends that they had met along the way. They know that in a heartbeat, they'd go on a journey across the realms in order to save them from anything.

They grab onto their friends' hands, squeezing tightly.

Their hands are squeezed back with the same amount of pressure. They know that they're not alone.

-

They were informed that they were to be stuck as a mortal forever.

At first, this made them happy. They were able to stay with their traveling companions for their rest of their mortal days. It was what they had wanted, to become a part of the mortal world and to be among the people that they felt they really belonged with. They could spend their days walking the world, without any sort of otherworldly obligations. It was perfect, they tried to convince themselves. It's what they had asked for from the very beginning, and now they had finally gotten their wish to come true.

Yet, it felt like something was missing.

-

They found a fygg, and realized that there was still a way to belong, still a way to be connected to the world that they thought they had left behind forever.

They saw the faces of those souls stuck in the mortal world. There was still more people to help, more people to see and meet. And there was someone else too.

Stella's face when she realized what happened was a picture-worthy moment.

-

They were shocked at King Schott's proposal. Princess Simona was there, smiling awkwardly at the situation her dad had put them both through. They had stopped back at Stornway with their three friends, intending to spend their time as a mortal traveling the world. They just didn't expect their visit to turn into this serious matter.

They shook their head politely. The king nodded, understanding them completely, wishing them a happy voyage across the world. He left the room, leaving them with Princess Simona.

Princess Simona was pretty, they thought, but being married didn't appeal to them. They had never been a fan of kissing, anyway.

She laughed, wondering why her father would even want them to marry each other. They smiled slightly, telling her that they were honored to be thought of as a worthy prinxe, and even a worthy ruler by her side.

She tilted her head in confusion, asking aloud why they would, then, refuse her father's offer. They reached out to grab her hand, smiling. 

_I want you to find love in someone who will love you forever_ , they murmured. 

Her eyes widened, and then she closed them, her eyes filling with tears. She pleads that they stay her friend forever, and even offering them a spot as a royal adviser if they ever settle down from their travels.

Their eyes softened at the sincerity of those words. They laughed a little bit, saying they were already friends for forever. For the last one though, they'll have to think about it. 

But for now, they're a free soul, traveling the mortal realm with their three best friends with no care in the world.

-

They're not lonely anymore. They used to be surrounded by Celestrians or mortals, whether they wanted to be or not. They used to feel as if they didn't belong in either group, either as purely a mortal or purely a Celestrian.

But now, they have a say in where they go, their friends with them every step of the way. And that's exactly where they want to be, absolutely in love with the world where they walk.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading this! i worked hard on this haha. this was really cool, to go back and try to remember my own playthrough of this game. this game is real fun lol definitely go play it!! kudos/comment if you liked it! thanks!! <3
> 
> im @vinndetta on tumblr, so if you wanna hmu to talk, im down :0


End file.
